09/28/2024
This is the momma best and two cubs we previously shared from the door camera. Happy to report they were released above Incline Village and aren’t being euthanized.
Yesterday morning a bear cub was trapped in a debris dumpster in Incline Village. BEAR League was called by neighbors who heard him crying for his Mom and sibling. We responded immediately but so did the Sheriff, who unfortunately promptly called NDOW.
Our trained volunteers could have easily and quickly got the cub out of the dumpster, as we have done countless times before over the past 30 years. But we were told to 'stand back' as NDOW over-reacted and tranquilized the whole family of bears and told everyone they would be taken out of the area and released. (The Bear Trophy Hunt is taking place right now in all bear habitat other than the Nevada side of Tahoe so we knew this would mean the bear family would be delivered straight into the sites of the hunters and houndsmen).
We posted and told our readers what the NDOW staff told us they intended to do. The public was furious and commented accordingly and soon NDOW's lead Bear Biologist stepped in and told us the family would not be relocated out of the area but would instead be taken just up the hill and released. We are grateful that she used good judgment and took over, but none of this needed to happen in the first place. It turned into a three-ring circus, stressed the entire bear family and traumatized an entire community.
We trust the Biologist who told us the bears would be released within the Tahoe Basin, she is an honorable person and an asset to NDOW.
There are some out there who are pedaling serious misinformation and we would like to remind everyone that we were there and those who are creating chaos have no idea what they are talking about, but instead are inserting themselves into something they have no clue about. Be careful who you believe and don't fall into the 'cult mentality'.
(The photo is not the cub from this story, this was a previous incident when we responded to a cub in a dumpster and placed a bunk-bed ladder for the cub to climb out, which he did. This photo was taken by BEAR League Volunteer, Tim Snyder)